The Lost Boy and The Gardener's Daughter by Ian Todd Page B

anywan aboot.  Paul felt his heart quicken when he heard the faint sound ae whining coming fae the back ae the canvas-topped Landy.  Efter staying in the same position fur five minutes withoot moving, the feeling ae cramp started tae creep intae that leg ae his, so he wis relieved when Tim wis suddenly up and oan the move again, scurrying forward before disappearing through a hole in the thicket.  When Paul goat through, he saw Tim trot alang the bottom ae a drystane dyke, stoap and look back tae see if Paul wis still wae him, before continuing.  The dyke wis only aboot four feet high, so Paul hid tae run bent o’er.  When he caught up wae Tim, the dug wis awready sitting waiting fur him tae arrive.  Withoot further ado, the dug leapt o’er the wall and heided in a southerly direction, before turning intae a left curve, heiding east.  Paul leapt o’er the wall and ran straight up the field waving an auld sack above his heid, bit keeping his trap shut.  It wis as if a meteorite hid landed in the middle ae the field.  The startled rabbits scattered in aw directions.  He noticed the wans that ran south, towards where Tim wis coming fae, curve aff tae the left and heid fur the horizon, before disappearing o’er the lip ae the hill.  By the time Paul arrived panting and oot ae breath at the nets oan the other side, Innes wis jist completing his task ae scudding the writhing rabbits, whose heids wur still stuck in the net, wae his rabbit heid-slapper.
      “Right, Paul…in the bags with them, laddie,” he whispered, pulling oot the silent whistle fae under the collar ae his shirt and blowing intae it.  Tim gied the pair ae them a fleeting glance before he shot aff back alang the route that Paul hid followed him alang fifteen minutes earlier and disappeared through the trees.  Paul could still feel the warmth ae the rabbits as he disentangled their heids fae the net and slung them intae the sacks.  When he looked up, Innes hid unhooked the net, and wis walking towards him, haudin it up as he gathered it, concertina fashion, before slinging it o’er his shoulder.
      “Right, Paul, let’s go.  Grab a couple of the sacks and follow me,” he whispered, picking up two himsel, before turning and briskly heiding in the direction that Tim hid gone.
      The barn looked like something oot ae a Davey Crockett movie.  There wis aboot forty-odd rabbits, aw hinging upside doon, some wae blood dripping oot ae their noses, waiting fur Whitey tae come and butcher them intae neat piles ae fresh meat.
      “Paul, come over here, laddie.  Sit down…I want to show you something,” Innes said, sitting oan a wooden box beside the boat and placing something oan his knee that he’d taken fae behind a row ae auld rusty paint tins oan wan ae the shelves above his heid.
      “Aye?”
      “Do you know what this is?”
      He picked up the object in question, aff ae Innes’s knee.  It looked like a cut-aff fae a square four by four wooden fence post.  It wis aboot ten inches long and wis obviously auld.  Oan tap ae it sat some sort ae contraption that wis screwed oan tae it.  It looked like a bit ae a plumbers brass T-joint, like the wans he’d come across when he wis stripping copper pipes oot ae the ootside landing toilets in the tenement buildings back in Glesga.  Oan wan ae the open ends ae the T-joint, there wis a brass ring screwed oan tae it.  Oan the opposite end, it hid whit looked like some sort ae a brass plunger.  At the base ae the plunger, a wee spike wis visible.  The wooden block hid two holes in it at each end that went straight through it.  Hinging fae the T-brass contraption wis a piece ae wound copper wire, aboot four inches long, wae a wee disc aboot the size ae a shilling bobbing aboot oan the end ae it.  He stared at it, turning it o’er in his hauns, before he pulled the plunger back and let it go a couple ae times. He unscrewed the brass ring before screwing it back oan, then stuck his